This blog provides delicious,traditional, vegetarian, South Indian Recipes from my mother Chitra Amma's kitchen. There are few 'world recipes' as well!
Thanks to Shravan, Pranav, Akash, Tara, Guggs, Shankari, Adu, Dhrithi, and Appa Ramachandran for the photos!

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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

This dish is prepared using orange peels, tamarind and other spices, and seems to be simply bursting with flavours. As children we watched adults who were about to eat an orange, and waited impatiently to grab the peels before they got discarded. We just loved to collect the peels for mother, who prepared a lip smacking gojju out of it. The peels of the oranges known as ‘loose jacket’ or ‘Kamala orange’ are the best for preparing this gojju. Though the peels can be sun dried and stored for future use, I feel that waiting for the season and using them fresh captures the unique flavour.

Ingredients:

Peels of one orange chopped – ½ cup

Tamarind – 1 golf ball sized roll

Salt – 1 and 1/2 tsp

Sambar powder – 1and 1/2 tsps

Turmeric powder- 1 pinch

Jaggery – 2 tbsps

Green chillies( slit) – 2

Red chillies ( broken) – 3

Fresh ginger slivers – 1 tsp

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp

Bengal gram dal – 1 tbsp

Curry leaves – a few

Gingili / Sesame seeds (roasted and powdered) – 2 tbsp

Gingili / Til oil – 3 tbsps

Rice flour ( for thickening) – 1tsp

Method:

1. Soak tamarind for 10 minutes, and then extract the juice and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.

3. When it splutters add fenugreek seeds and fry.

4. Add Bengal gram dal and roast till golden in colour.

5. Add asafoetida and red chillies.

6. Add green chillies and the fresh ginger slivers.

7. Now add the chopped orange peels and the curry leaves and sauté, then cover with a lid and cook in low flame.

8. After 2 minutes remove the lid and add turmeric powder and fry for a few seconds.

9. Add tamarind juice, salt, jaggery and sambar powder and boil the gojju until it emanates an aromatic flavour.

10. If you need it to be thicker add a paste of rice flour and water and simmer for a few minutes.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Athithi Devo Bhava (Sanskrit) means a guest is considered an incarnation of God. Perhaps this is what drives the hospitality culture, a mark of an Indian home. Rising up to the occasion and managing an urgent need, is faced by every one in all walks of the day to day life. Indian homes, especially the kitchens, have proven this fact time and again by their hospitality in welcoming unexpected guests at any hour of the day, and serving warm, tasty, and filling meals.Once an unexpected guest landed at home after a three hour journey, and was in a huge hurry to attend a meeting. It was an odd hour, and there wasn't any meal as such readily available. Since there was no time to soak or knead or cook or steam, I opted to prepare this pesarattu with some green gram sprouts I had in the fridge. I first greased the tava and put it on slow fire. By the time I ground the sprouts with spice and salt, the tava was hot enough to spread the batter. The hot and crisp pesarattu was served on the table by the time the athithi freshened up and got ready to go.

INGREDIENTS:Sprouted green gram dal – 2 cupsGreen chillies – 2Fresh ginger – 1’’ pieceAsafoetida – 1 pinchFinely chopped onion – 1Finely chopped fresh coriander- 2 tbspsCumin seeds – 1 tspSalt – 1 tspCooking oil – 2 tbspsMETHOD:1. Grind the sprouts with green chillies, ginger and salt into a batter. It need not be too smooth, and a slight coarse texture adds to the taste.2. Mix in the asafoetida powder, chopped onion and coriander, and cumin seeds.3. Grease the tava (pan) and heat it.4. Pour one ladleful of the batter and spread it into a fairly thick circle.5. Dribble oil all round and cook in moderate heat until crisp.6. When it is cooked turn it on to the other side and cook for one more minute.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

… and now finally for the round up of posts from Bloggers! Many bloggers have shared multiple treasures in their posts. We have tried to provide a flavour of what you can see at each blog here, rather than list every item on every blog! We strongly recommend that you visit all the blogs so that you don’t miss any treasures! Feel free to mail us, if we missed a major treasure category and we will surely update this post!

This brings us to an end of the round up, and many hours of interesting blog hopping! This event served another purpose for us as well! It opened our eyes to the world hunger problem. Ivyand two others bloggers have begun an online community of Food Bloggers, to spread awareness about hunger and make a difference by some positive action. When you visit her post for Treasure Hunt, you will find the community. While we have participated in school fund raisers and so at some point in time, it was for the first time that we actually did some reading up of facts on world hunger. We felt really bad that India contributes to 50 % of the problem! Well, irrespective statistics, hunger and starvation at any place is appalling. Do join the BloggerAid community and participate. Play the 'Free Rice' game (see left had column of this blog) as often as possible. Contribute food when scouts and guides come to your place for the cause. Next time you celebrate at home, just make some more food and take them to the needy in your neighbourhood. We Foodies love our food. We can appreciate what it is to be deprived of even one meal. We can collectively make a difference!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

A big Thank You, to all those who shared your treasures. This is the first time we are doing an event, and expected few participants. Suddenly on the last two days we received so many more! We now have 21 entries from bloggers and 2 from non-bloggers.

It has been an amazing time reading all the posts, and we did indeed discover so many treasures, not only from India, but also Indonesia, Japan, France, Cyprus, China. We have few antiques, traditional utensils, unusual one of pieces, as well as a few modern gadgets as well.

This is also the first time we can fully appreciate the efforts by fellow bloggers, who host events and do lovely round ups! We had a number of photos from the non-bloggers, and didn't want to leave out any. We found that doing one mega round up with with the capabilities of Blogger daunting. We therefore, decided to do two posts. This round up consists of entries from Non Bloggers. Part 2, will have the entries from bloggers.

Let us first take a look at entries from Shivashankari and Guhan. This young Bangalore based IT couple, do a lot of globe trotting, with gigantic cameras and photography gear slung around their necks! You can see some of their marvelous photos of a recent trip to Cambodia at my links. The treasures below including the ‘Guess What?’ were sent in from Shankari’s parents home in Chennai.

Shillu Katthi

For those who attempted the “Guess What?”, this is not a giant ear scraper or back scratcher! This is a 'shillu katthi'. It is, as some of you have correctly guessed, to do with a coconut, but not for grating! Notice how thick and heavy the handle is. This side is used to crack the coconut, while the other flowery end is used to pry out the kernel.

AruvamaneThis is a quaint looking ‘aruvamane’ or vegetable cutter. It is held steady, by placing a knee on the wooden board. Vegetables are then held with both hands, and slit against the sharp vertical edge. The serrated tip is used to grate coconut. This arvamane has decorative etching at the base.

Tenkuzhal and Sevai NazhiTenkuzhal is dough that is squeezed into ribbons and deep fried to make a crunchy savoury snack. This one a is 'tenkuzhal nazhi'.

This on the other hand is a 'sevai nazhi' or a 'string hopper press'. Its a difficult task pressing strings through these perforations! You can see another type here.The second non-blogger entry is from Malini and Savithri. They are from a joint family in Mysore, have a sprawling garden, and usually grow their own vegetables and fruits. They still use many of the traditional equipment in their daily lives. Those which are no longer used, have been creatively utilized in landscaping and interior design as you can see below!

Tool to remove the husk from the CoconutRemoving the husk from a coconut is not an easy task as can be seen here. Savithri’s husband is an engineer who designs and fabricates innovative machines and tools. He has fashioned this tool so that the coconuts from the garden can be dehusked easily by anybody. The coconut is impaled on the tip and held firm, while the lever is turned to separate the thick fibre. It is one of a kind, and that's why it does not have a name! Doesn't the first photo look like a robot straight out of Star Wars ?

Coffee GrinderThis is a very old traditional coffee bean grinder. It needs to be clamped to a surface and then used. Roasted coffee beans are freshly ground, after which the powered is used to make filter coffee decoction. More on coffee filters in part 2.

AduppuThis simple equipment is a called an 'aduppu' or 'choolha', and can be used to light a fire for cooking.

Ammi Kal and Kuzhavi , Beesora Kallu, Ural'Ammi kal' and kuzhavi, 'beesora kallu' and are used for grinding, powdering and so on, and are now used so innovatively to adorn their garden! Take a look at the pictures of the ones that are still in use at these links.Ammi Kal and Kuzhavi – used for grinding chutneys

The iron 'bandli' or pan was used for frying sweets and savories for large joint families. This has easily lent itself for a small rock garden!

Gangalam , Kodam, Ola KoodaiThe largest vessel is called 'Gangalam', again used for large scale cooking. The one inside is a 'Kodam' used to store water, the one behind the Buddha an old 'Ola Koodai' or a straw basket.

Yet another large vessel decoratively used.Aluminum Water JugThis old Aluminum water jug, has been painted over and converted into a nice pot holder. Yelli KoonduThis is definitely not a cooking gadget, but a real friend in ancient kitchens, and hence it is in here! As many of you know, this is a old rat trap. This one is closed, but rest assured no rat inside! A 'Yelli Koondu' was a must in the 'ugrana ul' or storage room, where sacks of rice, lentils and all provisions were stored, and an easy target for mice and rats!That's all for Kitchen Treasure Hunt - Part 1 folks! Hope you have enjoyed browsing this post, as much as we enjoyed posting it! Look out for Kitchen Treasure Hunt Round Up – Part 2 for all the treasures from bloggers!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Aval or Beaten Rice, is not only easy to prepare, but very tasty as well. However, old timers consider offering Aval Usili to a guest, as an insult! My sister-in–law’s mother-in-law prevented the cook from preparing Aval when we visited them. Though I explained to her, that we loved the dish and that we often prepared it at home, the grand old lady was very firm. She did not want us – the sambandis (inlaws)- to have the ‘ humble’ usili at her place and that was that!

Aval is devoid of fat and cholesterol. It makes an excellent ingredient for light evening tiffin. Although it is quite filling, it gets very easily digested, and does not affect the appetite during dinner time.

Puli Aval (Tamarind Aval),Elumcham Aval (Lime Aval),Tenga Aval (Coconut Aval),Masala Aval (Aval with onion and potatoes),Tomato Aval, Milagu Aval (Black pepper Aval), and Vegetable Aval are just few of the different types of Usilis that can be prepared, with this ingredient. Among all the Avals, the Patani Aval (Green Peas Aval), has been voted as the best by my grand children.

INGREDIENTS:

Beaten rice (the hard variety) – 2 cups

Boiled fresh peas (or frozen peas) – ¾ cup

Salt – ¾ tsp

Cooking oil – 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

Split black gram dal (urad dal) – 1 tsp

Bengal gram dal (chana dal) – 1 tsp

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Red chillies – 3

Curry leaves – a few

METHOD:

1. Wash the beaten rice two times and drain. Squeezing is not necessary.

4. When mustard seeds splutter, add the two dals and roast till golden in colour.

5. Add the asafoetida powder.

6. Add the broken red chillies and fry till crisp.

7. Add the curry leaves, and then the green peas and salt.

8. If you are using frozen peas, cover with a lid and let the peas cook on low fire.

9. Next add the soaked Aval and blend well.

10. Cover and cook on low heat for two minutes.

11. Remove lid and stir well to break up lumps if any.

Enjoy the simple, tasty and hot Patani Aval . My grand children on their return from school, enjoy it with a cup of thick curds, over Tom and Jerry cartoons!

TIP: The hard variety of Aval is best for this recipe, as the grains in the dish should be separate from each other, and should not stick or form lumps. The hard variety is however not available everywhere. While using soft variety, a quick rise under cold running water is sufficient, else the aval will quickly become slushy. Also, avoid covering the dish while cooking, and keep it on low heat for a longer time, to get rid of the moisture. Avoid stirring too many times. Use a flat ‘chappati’ turner ladel and gently mix.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Even as we were yakking away on Skype, we remembered that we had told Mansi we will take part, in the Vegan Thanks Giving event! We just realized that there is less than 3 hours left (in the West Coast US!) for the deadline! And so ...Amma rushed off to prepare this delicious dish for a Bangalore breakfast, while I wrote out this recipe in Sydney. Even as I completed writing, my dad, the ever enthusiastic photographer mailed me a click. So here is our recipe for the Vegan Thanks Giving Event at the Fun and Food Blog! Yummy dish in a flash!

5. Keep opening the pan time and again to stir, and ensure the mixture does not burn.

6. Once its cooked well, you will have a brilliant red tomato paste, and the oil will come out of the masala.

7. Mix maida with a little bit of water, and add to the pan and fry.

8. Now add the corn, and sautee.

9. Next add a cup of water and stir.

10. In a minute the corn will cook. Switch off once you have the consistency desired.

9. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves before serving.

Instead of Sambhar powder, you can use chillie powder and garam masala. However, Sambhar powder makes it a different and tasty adaptation. The sambhar powder we use, is a simple recipe, and we use it as a 'universal powder' for not only Sambhars, but also Rasam, Currys, Sabjis and Poriyals!

This curry is a favourite dish with bread, chappatis, dosas, even palav and fried rice!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

It has been scientifically proven that cooking multiple ingredients together collectively, provides more nutrition to our body than cooking any one ingredient at a time. Cooking multiple vegetables, or a variety of lentils, or using different cereals together is recommended by all nutritionists. The super markets are flooded with items like multi grain bread, multi grain breakfast cereal, and recently in India there are even multi cereal flours available for preparing rotis and chapattis.

YEZHU KARI KOOTTU is a traditional dish prepared by using seven types of vegetables and lentil since times unknown. The commonly used vegetables for this koottu are ash gourd, pumpkin, brinjal, yam, potato, snake gourd, chow chow, cluster beans, flat beans (avare kai), field beans, french beans, carrot and so on. The list is endless.

When a variety of vegetables are united in harmony, their nutrients complement and enhance each others valueand fortify the body to withstand the attackof unknown terror striking viruses, which try to destabilize our body.

Salutations to our Mother Earth, for producing numerous vegetables of different species and different classifications, which when united, and utilized wisely will nurture and protect us from any viral assault.

Note: These are the vegetables I used in the preparation of the koottu in the picture. Substituting field beans for ground nuts is usually favoured. You can combine any or every vegetable of your choice and you need not restrict to just Yezhu (7) kari (vegetable).

4. Now add the fresh coconut gratings, and fry for two more minutes and turn off the flame.

5. When the roasted spice is cool enough, grind it to a paste adding water little by little.

6. Cook all the diced vegetables in just enough water.

7. Heat one tsp of oil and add mustard seeds and curry leaves.

8. Add the cut capsicum and sauté for 2 minutes and add it to the cooking vegetables.

9. when all the vegetables are done, add the cooked dal and salt, and bring it to a boil.

10. Now add the spice paste and chopped tomato and allow it to boil for two to three minutes.

11. When the pleasant aroma of Yezhu kari koottu emanates, switch off the flame.

and relish it with rice or chapaties and enjoy the wholesome nourishment.

The terror strikes in Bombay, left everybody dead or devastated. The human mind is interesting. Even as we see the media and politics play out, we all know that we the citizens need to assume responsibility, and we do something about it. Yet, we are in a helpless state, and lack any direction on what exactly can be done. Some folks started signing signature campaigns. Some lit candles. Few Facebook communities wore white on Monday. Somebody even came up with the idea of collecting a rupee each to rebuild Taj! (Oh, for heavens sake!!! How does that even remotely address anything!!??). For some reason, we felt automatically propelled to cook this dish. Perhaps for all the symbolism it provides... Perhaps because we don't know what else we can do...Perhaps because food touches us more than anything else at a primal level.

Symbolic actions cannot wipe terrorism away or bring security. At best they are only symbols.

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Hello

Welcome to Chitra Amma's Kitchen.

I am Dibs. I am a born Foodie. I love to cook; love to eat; love to feed folks who appreciate good food. Blogging provides me a great way of documenting my mother, Chitra’s recipes, as a ready reference irrespective which time zone I live in. Amma honestly makes the best food I've ever had, and somehow, the anecdotes she tells us, make the dishes taste all the better.Most posts here are written by my mother Chitra. It’s her recipes, along with related reminiscences of people, places and anecdotes. She writes, I post!What started for a lark, has now become a serious hobby, drawing in participation from the whole family. My father, S.R. Ramachandran has started clicking away every dish made at home! Aunts, cousins, siblings, contribute to photos, and ask for recipes.We try to illustrate implements such as utensils, grinding stones and so on from the ‘pre-electric-mixer’ days wherever possible. We hope this will make an interesting read for future generations, on how food was cooked in earlier times!The site is still in its infancy, and slowly evolving, as our skills improve! We invite your comments, ideas, and questions, and will attempt answering them.

Thank you for your visit, and we hope you enjoy your stay at Chitra Amma’s Kitchen.